What Eyes Cannot See
by anonymous-lemonade
Summary: It's that time again for Mogami Kyoko to shamelessly coax some acting tips from Tsuruga Ren, but, with her ever intense ferocity to excel in her craft, she might be biting off more than she can chew this time around.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: What Eyes Cannot See  
**Pairing**: Kyoko x Ren  
**Genre**: Drama/Romance  
**Rating for this chapter**: K  
**Words**: 1462  
**Warnings and Author Notes**: General warnings? This piece might be a bit kinky for some of you youngsters but overall... it's pretty harmless... maybe? *sigh* Just read with caution, kay? ^_^;; As for spoilers, hmm, perhaps I'll just put it for up to chapter 138 of the manga. This might change but 138 should be okay for this chapter. ^_^ Let me know what you think. Enjoy the first chapter, everyone. =]

**- - - - -**

_たましいは凍えていた  
__Tamashii wa kogoeteita  
__信じない信じたいと  
__Shinjinai shinjitai to  
__愛を彷徨った二人  
__Ai wo samayotta futari  
__  
愛しい貴方と寄り添って生きて行けたら  
__Itoshii anata to yorisotte ikite yuke tara  
__いつか寂しい大地に  
__Itsuka sabishii daiichi ni  
__光を呼び戻して  
__Hikari wo yobimodoshite_

Her heart had sank the second her eyes scanned over the script that Sawara-san had handed her with enthusiasm. The director of the critically acclaimed movie "Serende" that reached great popularity in the late 1990s, Nakamura Yotsubu, had specifically asked for Mogami Kyoko to be the star of his next film after nearly a decade of absence from the show-biz scene. The intensity of the pressure that had been placed upon her shoulders has nearly brought her to her knees as she stood alone, riding one of the elevators of LME, contemplating whether it would be easier to just turn down the offer or suffer night after night of mental tortures, reenacting all the possible scenarios of how she will most definitely embarrass not only herself but the agency as well. Not to mention grandiosely disappointing both the president and Nakamura-san.

"Wahhh! I can't bare thinking of the looks on their faces." She wailed as she melted into a pile of goo against one of the metal walls of the descending lift. She hadn't even really looked at the entire script yet but she was already intimidated by the sheer complexity of the title: An Overture to Heaven.

Sadly, she knew all too well what her first instinct would be when she became stuck with a problem regarding work. Each and every time, it was Tsuruga Ren to the rescue. Kyoko was beyond annoyed with the fact that she can't figure things out by herself, especially since she's been in the industry for nearly two years, yet she found herself running in circle after pathetic circle trying to find inspiration for each of her roles. And it wasn't like her roles were getting any easier to portray. She had to learn to let go of her crutch. Besides, lately it seems that Tsuruga-san has been more and more busy as promotion season for the winter TV dramas approach. No, she would not dare bother him at such a critical time of the year.

She reluctantly solidified again when the doors slid open and trudged her heavy feet towards the entrance. It wasn't until she was about to exit the building did she hear a distant voice call her name.

"Kyoko-chan!"

Turning around she saw the owner of the voice to be Yukihito Yashiro, the kind and exuberant manager of the one and only Tsuruga Ren (actor extraordinare). And said actor was walking gracefully off the steps of the escalator behind Yashiro-san, leaving a trail of sparkles and glittering awesomeness in his wake. He quietly smiled brilliantly at Kyoko before saying, "Mogami-san. Good evening to you. Are you leaving for the day?"

Kyoko bowed deeply to both of them before sluggishly replying, "Good evening to you both. Yes, I'm done for the day hopefully I will be able to go back to Darumaya in time to catch the dinner rush."

They both smiled at her undying work ethic but it was Yashiro that spoke the actual words of praise. As she modestly brushed aside the compliment, Ren noticed a bulky manual script protruding from Kyoko's purse.

"Mogami-san? Is that a new project you have there?" He asked innocently.

Panicking out of habit, she snatched her purse from her shoulders and hiding it behind her back, creating an unnecessary air of suspicion. "Nope! That is was just a boring magazine that I took from the waiting area... of the... uhm... dentist office!" She stammered as she began to slink away towards the automatic doors.

"Oh~? Is that so...?" Ren asked, his voice began to drip with sweet nectar of poison.

"They sure have odd magazines nowadays, don't they, Ren?" Yashiro asked as he slipped behind Kyoko and skillfully snatched the large packet out of her opened purse, and out of her reach as she struggled haphazardly to retrieve what was hers. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that this is a new drama, Kyoko-chan will be staring in. Which would mean-"

"she lied to me... yet again." Ren said dripping honey like cavity-educing sugariness from each word as they would stab themselves into Kyoko with deadly accuracy.

"izamobie" came a mumbled reply, as the young 17 year old cowarded in fear.

"Hmm?" Ren asked, as he leaned in closer, sparkling ever so elegantly so that the "UV rays of his heavenly being" could coax basically anything out of her. "What was that?"

"It's a movie!" She nearly shouted before glaring at the two men in front of her. "It's a movie that will be directed by the legendary Nakamura Yotsubu! And I will have to take on a role of one of the most difficult characters in the history of movies directed by Nakamura Yotsubu! I hate my luck! No! No! You don't have to look at me, Tsuruga-san! I know that the very sight of me is revolting to you. I am a failure as an actress! You need not stain your eyes with my presence!" She wailed as her head slumped against the cool floor.

Ren silently studied the script and then, without another word, walked out of the building, the script in one hand and his jacket hanging from his finger in the other as it hung lightly over his shoulder.

"Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko asked, her eyes glued to her retreating script.

"Ren? Where are you going?" Yashiro asked as he followed Ren out LME.

The next thing that they both realized was that the were in Ren's car and on the road on the way to Darumaya. He had not peeled his eyes from the script until the very second his car was warmed up to shift gears into reverse, did he tuck the script snuggly under his legs in order to shield it from retrieval by a certain someone whom is plotting his grand demise in the back seat of his sports car.

Kyoko was beyond furious as she sat against the plush seat huffing and puffing her cheeks in annoyance as she now was broken out of her stupor and ended up silently accepting a ride from Tsuruga-san who had not even once looked at her as he opened the car door for her and then got behind the driver's seat. As of that moment, her poor script has been taken prisoner obscured from her vision by his lean legs. The man could have placed it in a wooden crate and float it atop bubbling acid and it would have probably been more probable for her to get it back than him practically sitting on it. And perhaps Tsuruga Ren knew this.

Thus, the current situation.

"Mogami-san. We are here."

Kyoko had been fuming so profusely in the back that she had not realized that they have arrived in the alleyway leading up to Darumaya. She quickly squeezed out from the back seat of the small car and was about to leave without even saying thank you for the ride home before she realized that she was about to leave without her manual script.

Turning around she came face to face with the bold title of An Overture to Heaven and heard from behind the script, "I'll help you out. You seem to be asking for it even if you don't have to guts to". Kyoko detected a smirk in his voice and snatched the script out of his hand.

"There is no need to be prideful, Mogami-san. The role that you have been tasked with isn't an easy character to portray. Granted it is not impossible and, most certainly, not the most difficult character to act out. You just need to channel that energy that you have bottled up and focus it. I will be at the agency tomorrow evening but you can call me anytime, if you just want to talk or have any questions. We can work on it at my place if you would like." He said, trying his best to sound completely professional and smother his rising laughter at the Hongo Mio-like look that is now gracing the young actress's face.

Fire of a thousand suns burned in her glittering orbs but she smothered the fire before taking a deep breath and saying, "Thank you for the ride, Tsuruga-san and I _do not _need your help. I will be able to figure this one out on my own, thank you very much. So there! Good night, Yashiro-san."

And with that she left in a huff.

The two men sat in muted shock before Yashiro that broke the silence.

"I give her two days."

Ren chuckled before he turned off his emergency lights and replied, "Nah. This is a pretty big project... I give her until tomorrow morning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**: What Eyes Cannot See  
**Pairing**: Kyoko x Ren  
**Genre**: Drama/Romance/minor Angst  
**Rating for this chapter**: T  
**Words**: 1997  
**Warnings and Author Notes**: General warnings? This chapter is quite harmless minus some very minor slapstick humor and violence. It is the next chapter, I believe, that the warming on the first chapter will apply to. As for spoilers: I don't think there are any in this chapter did not apply to the last chapter. So you should be in the clear if you read chapter 1 without any surprised gasps. Haha. Oh, and by the by, the small italicized quote at the beginning of this chapter is the translation for the _kanji_/_hiragana_/_romaji_ quote from the last chapter alluded from the song "Serenato" by Kalafina.

Thank you all so much for your reviews for this little piece of mine. _ I honestly don't know how to thank you enough, so I tried my best to crank out this chapter as fast as I could for you. Please know that this chapter was dedicated to all of you!! :3 Enjoy this chapter, everyone, and let me know what you all think, please. =] I look forward to seeing you all in chapter 3.

- - - - -

**Chapter 2  
**

_After the sun hid, our souls froze and  
__the two of us, not believing, but wanting to,  
__were roaming around love_

_If i could go on like this, staying in your arms, my love  
__One day, I'll be able to call back light to the lonely lands_

Kyoko's bloodshot pupils and puffiness of the bags under her eyes were the first thing to greet Kotonami Kanae the next morning. Kyoko had spent the good part of the previous night crying and coming up with ways to get into character for An Overture to Heaven but had drawn a blank time after tedious time. It was as if the harder she thought, the more clouded the mind became and, soon, the only thing that she could see was the mocking face of Fuwa Shotarou as he would poke and prod at her with his plastic microphone threw caged bars, like she was on display at the zoo. "Ahhh~ So this is what a failed soul looks like. I wouldn't know since I only surround myself with the best. This is the face of a looooossseeerrr~!" He would then make faces at her repeating the whole scene over and over again.

She couldn't remember when it was when she actually fell asleep but morning greeted her with warmth from the sun beating down on Tokyo city and the bitter taste of a terrible morning breath.

Kanae wanted to comfort her poor friend (not knowing what it is that was getting the ever optimistic Kyoko down) with words of reassurance and kindness but what came out instead was: "How I could I call someone who looks like a zombie squirrel my rival? Get your act together, woman! The hell is eating at you? Rabid dogs?"

Kanae made a mental note to work on her comforting skills.

"Mooookoooooo!" came the rasped voice of Kyoko as she proceeded to sulk into vegetation in a corner of the Love Me Section lounge. "I cant... I can't do it... I can't take it anymore. I have to figure it out; I have to beat this thing! But its like friggin' Jason! No matter how many times you try to kill that guy, he just get reincarnated again for another blasted Friday the 13th movie! Let the man rest in peace already, damnit!"

'Ah. It must have something to do with work,' Kanae concluded mentally. "Or she could just have a minor case of paraskavedekatriaphobia.' Ruling out the latter idea as unrealistic, Kanae had the sudden urge to pat herself on the back for figuring it out without having to actually ask Kyoko what it was that was bothering her. She didn't want to give the girl false hope into thinking that she actually _cared_ about her, after all. "What is it now? You should be happy that you even have work nowadays. So, what is it? A drama? A PV? A commercial? More mascot work?"

Nothing but sobs could be heard from a darken corner of despair and eminent death by _seppeku_.

"Oi! Are you even listening to me? I'm talking to you damnit!" Kanae gave her a nasty sneer and then took a step towards her to give Kyoko a piece of her mind when her foot contacted with a large packet of papers. Picking it up gingerly into her hands, Kanae read the title of Kyoko's new movie script and turned the page to the interior flap to see her character's description and history written out in meticulous detail; the neat script could only be Kyoko's own handwriting.

'If she has already done this much of a close read for her character, I wonder what it is that's holding her back.'

And then she spot it.

Lifting one elegant eyebrow, Kanae can see how this role might be a bit difficult for a relatively simple minded person like Kyoko but it wasn't impossible. She could probably give her a hand but she had to go off soon for her promotional photo shoot. Her internal struggle must have been apparent on her face because it was enough of a predicament to snap Kyoko out of her depressed state and ask, "Moko-chan? Are you okay?"

The next thing Kyoko knew, her script sprouted wings and few across the room. But young wings have little control of their new found freedom and thus slammed flat against Kyoko's confused face.

"Kyoko, you dimwit! You aren't approaching this correctly at all! You have to take a more physical approach to this character! And I mean totally embodying her to the very essence of her soul! How could you ever excel as an actress if you don't take your characters seriously. You have to treat them like they are real people! _Breathe_ life into them. If you can't do that then you have no right calling me your best friend!" And with that impassioned monologue, Kanae grabbed the wretched poisonous pink uniform and stormed out of the lounge.

"Moko~chan... this love of yours... is a bit... painful."

But then something that Moko said began to seed in Kyoko's mind as she begrudgingly put on her own uniform, placing on UV protected sunglasses to protect her eyes from the neon brightness of the color. Moko had said that she needed to embody her character and breath life into her. That she had to take a more physical approach...

"AH! I GOT IT!"

Inspiration hit her like a thousand aftershocks coursing through her veins and erupting fireworks atop her hyperactive nerves. It was almost as if she had been reborn and all the world her was a blur.

- - - - -

Adjusting his car into one of the parking slots at his apartment complex, Ren was not in the mood to do anything more than sleep after very long a strenuous day hitting two magazine interviews, three photo shoots, and a variety show taping. And not ONCE did he get a phone call from his _kohai._

To say that Tsuruga Ren was stressed was an understatement.

Having to deal with Yashiro-san's relentless teasing all day could drain just about anyone and it nearly drove Ren to actually strangle the grown man. So what if Kyoko did not call for any type of advice. This was probably a good thing; it means that she is finally growing on her own as an actress, and that very thought effortlessly brought a smile to his face.

And yet, as he walked into elevator and saw what actually displayed on his face, he can see that that warm smile did not reach his eyes as a whisper of pain tugged in the depths of his heart, a heart that had been long sealed away from the world, unworthy of the heavenly light from the sun to ever reach it. And, he, Tsuruga Ren will see to it that it stays that way.

Reaching his floor, Ren began walking towards his room on the far end of the building when he saw a figure standing in front of what seemed to be his door. As he approached, the figure became more and more apparent. The living, breathing, form of the one and only Mogami Kyoko patiently standing with her back against the wall, her eyes burned with a fire that was nonexistent just twenty-four hours earlier. His heart involuntarily did a small tumble in his chest.

"Mogami-san, good evening. Is there something I can help you with?" Ren asked trying to compose himself.

A tiny blush crept across her cheeks (and that nearly done him in) as she said, "Well, I was on my way out of LME, since there wasn't any Love Me work for the day, when I got a phone call from Yashiro-san saying that you have been looking a bit pale lately and that he is convinced that you have not been nourishing yourself properly. So I brought sustenance for you." She said producing a basket full of fresh vegetables, meats, and packets of herbal tea.

'Yashiro, you scheming-!' Ren thought as he sighed exasperatedly under his breath.

That tiny pang of pain began to blossom as he placed on his most divine smile for Kyoko before inviting her in. This was to be like any other evening with her. He would shower, she would cook, they would have dinner together in his living room (perhaps catch a show on TV), squabble over trivial things, finish cleaning up, and then part their separate ways for the evening. She would return to the world, her radience too great to shared with only one person; the way things were suppose to be. He would return once again to his empty apartment, completely alone and cold, where his large bed would be equally as empty and cold; the way it will always be. Yet, for those few stolen moments of heaven, Ren will drink up every drop like it was the only thing that will sustain his very being. Every precious minute he had with her will be stored it away until he climbed into bed. Only then will he pull it out to replay in his mind hours into the night like a lullaby as he would drift off into the abyss of a dreamless sleep.

"Tsuruga-san? Did you hear me?" came the voice that broke him from his revelry.

"Uhm..." Removing his necktie to keep his hands busy, Ren spoke as he draped it lightly on the recliner, "I'm sorry, Mogami-san. I seem to have drifted off thinking about work again. What was it that you were saying?"

A worried look passed over her face before she replied, "Ah... the thing is, I also have a bit of a request, but it seems that Tsuruga-san's mind is completely and whole heartedly focused on his current work. I didn't want to ask for your help because I didn't want my trivial problem to cloud your own work. I always feel like such a nuisance when I am around Tsuruga-san." Her sad eyes fell to the ground where her feet were shifting uncomfortably.

'Is that the kind of man she takes me for? Someone who could completely push her to the side simply because I was busy. Oh, this is not good for my image. This girl-'

"Mogami-san..."

"Tsuruga-san should go and take a bath while I get dinner ready. I promise I will make a meal that will surely re-energize Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko said with a sweet smile and then disappeared into the kitchen, arms full with groceries.

What she did not know was that, with just one of her smiles, she could have easily brought him to his knees once again.

- - - - -

Drying his hair as he left the bathroom, Ren walked into the living room and was greeted with the warm aroma of a freshly cooked meal.

"Vegetable soup garnished with crispy garlic flakes and diced spring onions, open grill_ tempura_ on steamed rice topped with _wasabi_ and ginger and dowsed with a special sweet bean vinaigrette sauce and, to accompany the meal, the best herbal tea on this side of Tokyo: the new Elixir Green Tea with _sakuranbo_ extract." came the voice from the kitchen reading off the menu of the dishes on the glass coffee table. Kyoko walked in carrying a tea tray, her personal pink apron donning over her day clothes. The scene was so hauntingly flawless and, thus, the pain in his chest once again returned momentarily as the sight was so painful to witness; someone like Ren did not deserve such an image of completeness and earth shattering perfection in his life. He was not worthy of such.

"Tsuruga san?Are you okay, you seem to be spacing out again?" Kyoko asked, waving her hand in front of him.

'Ah. It seems as though I'm really not getting a hold of my emotions tonight. This does not bode well...' Ren thought taking his usual position at the table, the flat screen television to his right.

"I'm fine, thank you, Mogami-san. The meal looks impeccable and I am sure it will taste just as good as it looks._ Ja, ittadakimasu_."

The rest of the meal was spent relatively in silence, both occupants of the table lost in their own thoughts with the occasional small talk that took place to fill the awkward void but even that eventually fizzled into nothingness.

Finally once she served him his third cup of tea (which he seem to enjoy with zest) and began piling up the plates to be taken into the kitchen for washing, did Kyoko apprehensively looked up at Ren and quietly asked, "Tsuruga-san... what would _you_ do if you had to take on a character that was blind?"


End file.
